Safer and healthier work at any age : final overall analysis report

This report provides a summary of the main findings of a three-year pilot project initiated by the European Parliament and directed by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) - based on a delegation agreement with the European Commission - on the occupational safety and health (OSH) challenges posed by an ageing workforce1. As mentioned in a decision of the European Parliament, the original aims of the pilot project were to enhance the implementation of existing recommendations, facilitate the exchange of best practice and further investigation of possible ways of improving the safety and health of older people at work2. The project also aimed to assess the prerequisites for OSH systems in different European countries to take account of an ageing workforce and ensure better prevention for all throughout working life. The European population has aged3 significantly in recent decades as a result of increasing life expectancy and declining birth rates. This trend is predicted to continue and intensify: by 2040, the proportion of the EU population over 65 years of age is expected to account for nearly 27 % of the total population (Eurostat, 2014). At the same time, the working-age population (those aged 15-64 years) is shrinking, meaning that the ratio of the working-age population to those aged 65 and over will continue to decrease (Fotakis and Peschner, 2015). Although life expectancy has continually increased in Europe over recent decades, these extra years of life are not necessarily spent in good health. Since 2005, healthy life expectancy has remained stable for men and has actually decreased for women (EC, 2009). In addition, the incidence of chronic diseases is rising as a result of population ageing.